The Hong Psychological Reactance Scale (HPRS) purports to measure reactance: a motivational state experienced when a behavioral freedom is threatened with elimination. To date, five studies have examined the psychometric properties of the HPRS, but reached different conclusions regarding its factor structure. The current study further investigated the factor structure of the HPRS by testing four competing models using responses from 1,282 college students. A modified bifactor model, in which a general reactance factor explained common variance among all the items and specific factors explained shared residual variance among sets of items, was championed. Implications for estimating reliability and scoring the HPRS are discussed.
Benson, J., & Nasser, F. ( 1998). On the use of factor analysis as a research tool. Journal of Vocational Education Research, 23, 13-33.
2.
Brehm, J.W., & Brehm, S.S. ( 1981). Psychological reactance: A theory of freedom and control . New York, NY: Academic Press.
3.
Buboltz, W.C., Thomas, A., & Donnell, A.J. ( 2002). Evaluating the factor structure and internal consistency reliability of the therapeutic reactance scale. Journal of Counseling & Development, 80, 120-125.
4.
Chen, F.F., West, S.G., & Sousa, K.H. ( 2006). A comparison of bifactor and second-order models of quality of life. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 41, 189-225.
5.
Dillard, J.P., & Shen, L. ( 2005). On the nature of reactance and its role in persuasive health communication. Communication Monographs, 72, 144-168.
6.
Donnell, A.J., Thomas, A., & Buboltz, W.C. ( 2001). Psychological reactance: Factor structure and internal consistency of the questionnaire for the measurement of psychological reactance . Journal of Social Psychology, 141, 679-687.
7.
Dowd, E.T., Milne, C.R., & Wise, S.L. ( 1991). The therapeutic reactance scale: A measure of psychological reactance. Journal of Counseling & Development, 69, 541-545.
8.
Dowd, E.T., & Wallbrown, F. ( 1993). Motivational components of client reactance. Journal of Counseling & Development, 71, 533-539.
9.
Finney, S.J., & DiStefano, C. ( 2006). Dealing with nonnormal and categorical data in structural equation models. In G. R. Hancock & R. O. Mueller (Eds.), A second course in structural equation modeling (pp. 269-314). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
10.
Hancock, G.R., & Mueller, R.O. ( 2001). Rethinking construct reliability within latent variable systems. In R. Cudeck, S. Du Troit, & D. Sorbom (Eds.), Structural equation modeling: Present and future (pp. 195-216). Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.
11.
Hong, S.-M. ( 1992). Hong’s psychological reactance scale: A further factor analytic validation. Psychological Reports, 70, 512-514.
12.
Hong, S.-M., & Faedda, S. ( 1996). Refinement of the Hong psychological reactance scale . Educational and Psychological Measurement, 56, 173-182.
13.
Hong, S.-M., & Giannakopoulos, E. (1993). The relationship of satisfaction with life to personality characteristics. Journal of Psychology , 128, 547-552.
14.
Hong, S.-M., & Ostini, R. ( 1989). Further evaluation of Merz’s psychological reactance scale. Psychological Reports, 64, 707.
15.
Hong, S.-M., & Page, S. ( 1989). A psychological reactance scale: Development, factor structure and reliability. Psychological Reports, 64, 1323-1326.
16.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. ( 1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424-453.
17.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. ( 1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.
18.
Immekus, J.C., & Imbrie, P.K. ( 2008). Dimensionality assessment using the full-information item bifactor analysis for graded response data: An illustration with the state metacognitive inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 68, 695-709.
McDonald, R.P. ( 1999). Test theory: A unified treatment. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
21.
Preacher, K.J., & MacCallum, R.C. (2003). Repairing Tom Swift’s electric factor analysis machine. Understanding Statistics , 2, 13-43.
22.
Reise, S.P., Moore, T.M., & Haviland, M.G. (in press). Bifactor models and rotations: Exploring the extent to with multidimensional data yield univocal scale scores. Journal of Personality Assessment.
23.
Reise, S.P., Morizot, J., & Hays, R.D. ( 2007). The role of the bifactor model in resolving dimensionality issues in health outcomes measures. Quality of Life Research , 16, 19-31.
Rindskopf, D. ( 1984). Structural equation models: Empirical identification, Heywood cases and related problems. Sociological Methods and Research, 13, 109-119.
26.
Shen, L., & Dillard, J.P. ( 2005). Psychometric properties of the Hong psychological reactance scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 85, 74-81.
27.
Sijtsma, K. ( 2009). Reliability beyond theory and into practice. Psychometrika, 74, 169-173.
28.
Thomas, A., Donnell, A., & Buboltz, W.C. ( 2001). The Hong psychological reactance scale: A confirmatory factor analysis. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34, 2-13.
Zinbarg, R.E., Revelle, W., & Yovel, I. ( 2007). Estimating ωH for structures containing two group factors: Perils and prospects. Applied Psychological Measurement , 31, 135-157.
